Alabama Condo Assessment Lien Super-Priority Calculator — § 35-8A-316(b) Six-Month Super-Priority

How this calculator works

This is a priority-breakdown tool for Alabama condominium assessment liens under Ala. Code § 35-8A-316. Given the monthly regular assessment, months delinquent, amount paid to date, and the first mortgage balance, it returns:

1. The TOTAL OUTSTANDING delinquency (monthly assessment times months delinquent, minus payments).
2. The SUPER-PRIORITY DOLLAR AMOUNT — the six-month window under § 35-8A-316(b) capped at the actual outstanding amount.
3. The SUB-PRIORITY AMOUNT — the remainder above the six-month window, which remains junior to the first mortgage.
4. The procedural posture (within-window, exceeds-window, paid-in-full, no-delinquency).

The calculator does NOT compute interest, late charges, fines, or attorney fees because the § 35-8A-316(b) super-priority is explicitly tied to common-expense assessments based on the periodic budget. Adding non-assessment items would overstate the super-priority figure. Use the calculator for the priority math; track the secondary items separately in the ledger.

Use the tool before recording a statement of lien to confirm the priority breakdown, during settlement negotiations to anchor the demand against the legal floor, and at the start of any senior-mortgage foreclosure to project the recovery the association should expect from the trustee-sale proceeds.

The relevant Ala. Code § 35-8A statute

The Alabama Uniform Condominium Act lives at Ala. Code § 35-8A-101 et seq. The assessment-lien provisions are concentrated in § 35-8A-316, with related cross-references to § 35-8A-315 (periodic budget), § 35-8A-302 (powers of the association), and § 35-10-1 et seq. (Alabama nonjudicial power-of-sale foreclosure regime). The Alabama HOA Act at Ala. Code § 35-20-1 et seq. governs non-condominium homeowners associations and does not carry the same super-priority structure.

§ 35-8A-316(a) — The association has a lien on a unit for any assessment levied against that unit or fines imposed against its unit owner. The lien arises AUTOMATICALLY when the assessment becomes due. No recording is required for the lien to attach as between the association and the unit owner.

§ 35-8A-316(b) — SUPER-PRIORITY. A lien under this section is prior to all other liens and encumbrances on a unit except: (1) liens and encumbrances recorded before the recordation of the declaration; (2) a first mortgage or deed of trust on the unit recorded before the date on which the assessment sought to be enforced became delinquent; and (3) liens for real estate taxes and other governmental assessments or charges against the unit. The lien is ALSO prior to the first mortgage described in (2) to the extent of the COMMON EXPENSE ASSESSMENTS based on the periodic budget adopted by the association which would have become due in the absence of acceleration during the SIX MONTHS immediately preceding institution of an action to enforce the lien. This is the six-month super-priority.

§ 35-8A-316(c) — Recording the declaration constitutes record notice and perfection of the lien. No further recordation is required for the lien to be effective against subsequent purchasers and encumbrancers.

§ 35-8A-316(d) — A lien for unpaid assessments is extinguished unless proceedings to enforce the lien are instituted within THREE YEARS after the full amount of the assessment becomes due.

§ 35-8A-316(e) — The association may bring an action to recover a money judgment for unpaid assessments without foreclosing or waiving the lien. The two remedies are cumulative.

Alabama-specific gotchas (nonjudicial power-of-sale, one-year right of redemption under § 6-5-247, no CAM licensure)

ALABAMA DOES NOT FORMALLY LICENSE CAMs. Unlike Florida (Fla. Stat. § 468.431 LCAM), Nevada (NRS 116A CAM), and DC (CICM), Alabama has NO state-level licensure requirement for community association managers. Alabama CAMs operate without a state licensure regime; many managers hold general real-estate-broker licenses under Ala. Code § 34-27-30 et seq. but no statute compels CAM-specific licensure. Practical consequence: Alabama condominium boards bear primary responsibility for collection compliance and the calculator (with statute citations) is intended as a tool the board can use directly without a licensed CAM intermediary.

ALABAMA STRONGLY FAVORS NONJUDICIAL POWER-OF-SALE FORECLOSURE. The Alabama nonjudicial foreclosure regime at Ala. Code § 35-10-1 et seq. is the dominant enforcement path. The association may instruct the trustee to conduct a public auction at the courthouse door after a three-week newspaper-publication notice under § 35-10-13. Judicial foreclosure in circuit court is available but materially slower and more expensive; most condominium associations elect the nonjudicial path when the declaration authorizes it. Confirm power-of-sale authorization in the declaration before proceeding.

ONE-YEAR STATUTORY RIGHT OF REDEMPTION UNDER § 6-5-247. Alabama gives the former owner (and certain other parties such as junior lienholders) a ONE-YEAR statutory right of redemption after a nonjudicial power-of-sale foreclosure. During the redemption period, the former owner may redeem the property by paying the foreclosure-sale purchaser the bid price plus statutory additions. The one-year redemption period materially affects the marketability of Alabama foreclosure-sale title. For association foreclosures, the redemption period applies and any new owner takes subject to the redemption right for one year. Tax-sale redemption is THREE years under § 40-10-120 — a different regime.

SUPER-PRIORITY IS A PAYMENT-PRIORITY RIGHT, NOT AN EXTINGUISHMENT. Alabama's six-month super-priority under § 35-8A-316(b) gives the association priority OVER the senior mortgage to the extent of six months of regular assessments. It does NOT extinguish the senior mortgage the way Nevada's NRS 116.3116(2) nine-month super-priority does under the SFR Investments v. U.S. Bank line of cases. The senior mortgagee retains its lien in full; the association simply gets paid first out of foreclosure proceeds for the six-month amount. The new owner takes subject to the surviving senior mortgage.

HOA ACT (§ 35-20) DOES NOT CARRY THE SUPER-PRIORITY. The Alabama HOA Act at § 35-20-1 et seq. governs non-condominium homeowners associations and does NOT carry the six-month super-priority. HOA liens under the HOA Act follow general first-in-time priority rules subject to the recorded declaration. Practical consequence: Alabama HOA collections have materially less leverage than Alabama condominium collections, and the senior-mortgagee foreclosure typically wipes out the HOA lien entirely. This calculator is for CONDOMINIUM associations under § 35-8A.

THREE-YEAR LIEN STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS IS SHORTER THAN THE GENERAL CONTRACT LIMITATIONS. Ala. Code § 35-8A-316(d) extinguishes the lien unless enforcement proceedings are instituted within three years after the full amount of the assessment becomes due. This is shorter than the general six-year Alabama statute of limitations on contract debt under § 6-2-34. An association that lets a delinquency drift longer than three years loses the lien remedy and is left with only the personal money-judgment remedy. Calendar the three-year date precisely against the first missed assessment.

FINES AND LATE CHARGES ARE NOT IN THE SUPER-PRIORITY CALCULATION. The six-month super-priority under § 35-8A-316(b) is explicitly tied to common-expense assessments based on the periodic budget. Fines under § 35-8A-302(a)(11), late charges, interest, and special assessments are NOT included. An association can have a $5,000 super-priority claim for six months of regular assessments at $830 per month even if the total ledger balance is $10,000 with fines and late charges. The calculator computes super-priority strictly against the regular monthly assessment; if the user inputs a higher number that includes fines, the figure is overstated.

What this calculator does NOT model

The calculator implements the Ala. Code § 35-8A-316 super-priority math. It does NOT:

• Compute interest, late charges, fines, attorney fees, or costs of collection. These items accrue under the declaration and bylaws but are NOT included in the § 35-8A-316(b) super-priority.
• Apply the Alabama HOA Act § 35-20 framework to non-condominium homeowners associations. Use a different tool for HOA Act collections.
• Project the nonjudicial power-of-sale foreclosure timeline under § 35-10-1 et seq. Use the Alabama HOA Foreclosure Timeline Calculator for that.
• Project the one-year statutory right of redemption under § 6-5-247 et seq. Note the redemption period in the closing file separately.
• Validate the form of the periodic budget or confirm the budget was adopted under § 35-8A-315 procedural requirements.
• Model special-assessment ratification under § 35-8A-302 or fines under § 35-8A-302(a)(11).
• Compute interest rates on the lien (declaration-specific).
• Account for the priority position of pre-declaration encumbrances or real-estate-tax liens.
• Apply the bankruptcy-stay rules or post-petition assessment treatment under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(16).

For any consequential collection or foreclosure action, retain Alabama counsel with § 35-8A and § 35-10 experience to oversee the procedural compliance review.

Sources

Last reviewed: 2026-05-17 against:

• Alabama Uniform Condominium Act, Ala. Code § 35-8A-101 et seq.
• Ala. Code § 35-8A-316 (association lien for assessments — automatic attachment, six-month super-priority, perfection by recordation of declaration, three-year lien statute of limitations, cumulative money-judgment remedy).
• Ala. Code § 35-8A-315 (periodic budget adopted by the association — basis for the six-month super-priority calculation).
• Ala. Code § 35-8A-302 (powers of the association — fines, special assessments, regulatory authority).
• Ala. Code § 35-10-1 et seq. (Alabama nonjudicial power-of-sale foreclosure regime).
• Ala. Code § 6-5-247 et seq. (Alabama one-year statutory right of redemption after nonjudicial foreclosure).
• Ala. Code § 6-2-34 (general six-year Alabama statute of limitations on contract debt).
• Alabama HOA Act at Ala. Code § 35-20-1 et seq. (separate framework for non-condominium homeowners associations).
• Comparative analysis against Connecticut (CGS § 47-258(b)), Colorado (CCIOA § 38-33.3-316), DC (DC Code § 42-1903.13(a)(2)), Hawaii (HRS 514B-146), Nevada (NRS 116.3116(2) and the SFR Investments v. U.S. Bank line of cases), Washington (RCW 64.34.364), Vermont (27A V.S.A. § 3-116), and Tennessee (Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-27-415 — no super-priority).
• Alabama State Bar Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section practitioner materials on condominium collection.